Re: Lookism
by Lil-Maow
Summary: Jae Won High is starting their second semester with new transfer student and he is making waves. A partial retelling of the Manwha Lookism, with original content.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Jay

"Alright, alright class. Let's settle down and take our seats." The students shuffle around quietly, and Jay tilts his head towards the teacher, ready to listen. "Now that I have your attention, I want to welcome everyone back from your summer vacation and I hope you're ready for this upcoming semester." Mr. Park is a squat old man who is always out of breath, his words coming out between short puffs of air. "We also have a new student transferring into our class, so everyone please welcome him. Come on in now Daniel." Mr. Park beckons towards the door at the front of the classroom and student's start whispering. This transfer was unexpected and will surely be todays focus of gossip.

Timidly entering the class is a tall, broad shouldered boy with natural black hair and kind features. The class gasps in unison when they see him. Daniel is probably one of the most gorgeous men they've ever seen.

"Hello, my name is Daniel Park. It's nice to meet you" he bows. When Daniel looks up his eyes dart around, avoiding eye contact with the class. He lifts his hand and starts scratching the back of his head, probably a nervous gesture. He also looks a little sweaty.

"Daniel, you can take any empty seat." Daniel mumbles a response, too quiet to hear from where Jay is sitting. As Daniel walks towards the back of the class, Jay can't help but to stare as he gracefully walks. Briefly he considers that he should feel embarrassed about starting so bluntly, but so is everyone else.

Daniel chooses the empty seat beside Zack in the middle aisle, back row. Zack is a former pro-boxer and kept the look even after he retired. With jet blacked hair that he keeps gelled and sharp nose and eyes, he backs up his intimating presence with a slender but muscular body of a boxer. Zack is not known for his kindness either. This new kid looks like a ball of nerves and Zack is going to eat him up. Jay begins to move his hand and gesture for Daniel to take the empty seat beside him but he was too slow. Daniel doesn't notice. Jay puts his hand down but keeps watching Daniel from behind his bangs.

Daniel pulls the chair under the desk and greets his new neighbor. "Good morning!" with a dazzlingly smile. Jay's heart skips a beat.

"Yeah, hi." From this angle Jay can't see Zack's face but he raises his hand in a weak wave. Daniel's face drops after seeing Zack though. He must have the first-day jitters real bad.

After introducing Daniel, the teacher had stepped out of the classroom. Taking advantage of the free moment, the first girl with enough bravery stands up and saunters over to Daniel. It's Zoe, an unpopular girl. She has a mid-length black bob that ends above her shoulders and choppy bangs. Traditionally attractive but with a possessive personality.

"Daniel? Hi, I'm Zoe. Hey, you've got something on your face!"

"Huh? Where?" Daniel pats his face trying to find the issue.

"A handsome thing! Hehe..."

The boys in the class groan and the girls hiss at Zoe. Daniel's pale complexion flushes pink for a second and he looks downward, embarrassed. He scratches the back of his head again.

"Hey Zoe, stop flirting and sit. It's annoying" grumbles Zack.

Zoe puts her hands up and makes little claws with her fingers "Oh, Zack! So scary!"

"Stop doing that, bitch!" Zack looks towards his two friends, Hyun and Jun, and give them a smug look as they exclaim in agreement. Zack then peers over at Mira, another girl in the class who Zack obviously likes, for more validation but she is staring at Daniel like everyone else and doesn't see Zack's attempts at getting her attention. Visible fury radiates off him and Zack whips his head from Mira to Daniel and starts leaning in closer and closer entering Daniel's personal space. As Zack gets closer, Daniel leans away folding in on himself making his body appear smaller.

Jay is reminded of Animal Documentaries when animal's fight over dominance. Zack is the Alpha asserting his supremacy over the newest of the pack; an ape standing tall pounding his chest, scaring off anyone who dares come near his Mira. Daniel doesn't respond to Zack's taunts but continues looking downward, probably trying to block Zack out.

Daniel's made his first enemy and it's only 8:00 a.m. Jay sighs and turns his head to the left, looking outside the window again. Watching Daniel struggle through these social interactions is giving him secondhand embarrassment. And the situation is getting worse. Some of the other boys are misreading Daniel's body language, interpreting his ignoring of Zack as indifference.

"Daniel isn't even phased."

"Pissing off Zack is his last mistake. Remember how he almost killed someone at his last boxing match?"

"I thought he lost the championship?"

Zack now whips his head over the gossiping boys. They let out a whimper and quickly turn around.

The teacher is back in the room and calls for the class's attention again. Jay pushes thoughts of Daniel aside to be considered for later.

* * *

Finally, this long day has ended. Daniel continued to flounder through every conversation, which was endearing to girls and therefore disgusting to all the boys. But _why_ is Daniel such a nervous wreck is Jay's main curiosity. Usually the beautiful and handsome people are overflowing confidence, but this is not Daniel. Jay weighs the different possibilities: Was he homeschooled and not accustomed to all this attention? Or maybe a childhood sickness has kept him away in a hospital all his formative years and he never fully developed social skills. Or he comes from the countryside where there are only 10 others in the class, all of whom is used to his looks. Was he bullied at his other school and now everyone else is a threat?

Jay shakes his head and makes a "tsk" noise sucking the air between his teeth. No way to figure out this new kid without talking to him, which the one thing impossible for Jay. He has always been quiet, to the point where his parents took him to doctors and speech pathologists as child to get him to say anything. In elementary school, Jay finally started to say a few words but after an incident in middle school he's lost all desire to speak. His brother and sister are the only people he'd ever want to talk to now but thankfully they can understand Jay's body language since they grew up with him being mostly mute. Even with his best friends he doesn't have to speak so he doesn't. He'll just have to use his normal method of collecting information; his expertise observation skills.

Jay's attention is redirected when he sees movement around Daniel. Zoe is sneaking up beside him, with a mischievous grin on her face. She gives Daniel's shoulder a hard push and using a nasally voice, trying to be cute, and shouts "Wake up!"

"FUCK!" Daniel's eyes open wide and he stands up pushing the desk away from him. Zoe drops to her knees, startled by his explosive response. The class, obviously, saw the whole interaction and starts laughing.

"Is the Skank getting told off?"

"Hilarious..."

As always, Zoe looks unphased by their harsh words. Quickly composing herself and apologizing for waking Daniel suddenly. Daniel assures Zoe that he is fine and starts packing his belongings up. The class follows suit following Daniel out like his shadow.

Jay muses to himself, this year should be interesting.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Zoe

Mira inserts the wand into the mascara tube, pushing it back and forth fully coating the applicator. She leans in close to the mirror, expertly covers her lashes in a second layer and takes a step back to admire her handywork. Pouting her lips, Zoe can tell Mira is contemplating if she should color or leave her lips alone. Zoe searches through Mira's makeup pouch, finding a nice coral lip tint and hands it to Mira.

"Here, I think this color is really nice on you."

"Oh, thanks!" Mira smiles and continues applying her makeup. Mira's always been one of the prettiest girls in class. She works out daily to stay fit and she has great curves, her face is perfectly proportioned with big doe eyes and full lips. She's been growing her long auburn hair for years but prefers to keep it up and out of her face.

Zoe also looks in the mirror and examines herself. Zoe has a great body too, naturally born with a tiny waist and full curves. Unlike Mira she has never exercised. But where Mira's eyes are wide and innocent, Zoe's have a slight downward curve making them look heavily hooded which some people think gives her a sexy vibe. Zoe's hair is currently in a short bob, but she's thinking of growing it. Her makeup looks fine, but she better brush her hair again. It's looking a little tangled.

"Fucking move, skank. You're blocking the sink." says a harsh looking blonde upper classman, wearing a snap back baseball cap. Wordlessly, Zoe steps aside and continues brushing her hair in the corner.

"Why does she even try to look pretty? No boys here even like her." The blonde girl looks at her two friends, and they agree. Zoe pretends to not hear.

"And always following Daniel around, it's so pathetic."

"He probably prefers his toys unused. Who would want someone's leftovers?"

This gets a big laugh out of the group of girls. They finish washing their hands and keep throwing targeted insults at Zoe as they leave. It's fine though, Zoe assures herself. Taking a deep breath and exhaling out all the negative thoughts, she walks back over the mirror she was at earlier.

"Zoe... why do you let them say such awful things about you?" Mira is concerned, like always. It's sweet and Zoe is appreciative for her concern.

"If I say anything back, they'll just get worse. And honestly, they don't bother me too much." she shrugs.

In the mirror she sees how brushing her hair has made it frizzy. Zoe goes into her own makeup bag and pulls out a small hand-sized flat iron. She presses the "on" button and sets it on the sink waiting for the iron to heat.

"And, guess what?" Zoe doesn't give pause for Mira to ask, "I'm going out with Daniel tonight!" She hops a little in excitement.

Surprise at first, then disbelief crosses Mira's face before she answers. "Now, is this a Date..." Mira adds air quotations on the word date "or are you tagging along with Zack's group?"

"Huh? You're no fun. How did you know I was hanging out with them?"

"I didn't until right now" Mira playfully rolls her eyes and hops on the sink, sitting with feet dangling. Zoe fell right for her trap and she baps her own head slightly with a fist in frustration.

"Okay, well yes it's not something Daniel is aware of right now, but I will be crashing Zack's little get together"

"Have you ever hung out with Zack's gang?" Mira shudders.

"No, why?" Zoe's flat iron is ready to use now, and she begins to re-set her bangs and calm down her hair.

"It's just no fun. Zacks is inevitably going to get pissed off by someone and start fighting. And Hyun and Jun just egg him on, trying to get a rise out of Zack. I hate it so much, I can't stand going out with him anymore. And that bar he likes to hang out at, it's disgusting. The only reason he likes it there is because the owner doesn't ID the customers so he can get all the booze he wants." She lowers her eyes "And the only other customers look like gangsters. One day he is going to pick a fight with the wrong person and get hurt." Mira hops off the sink, and Zoe puts down her flat iron first before wrapping arms around Mira.

"You worry too much. And I'll be there tonight, I'll just woo any gangster who would wanna mess with Zack." She gives Mira a squeeze.

"I'm not sure you offering to get involved with gangsters is going to comfort me". Mira sighs and hangs her head low for a second. "Alright, break is almost over. Let's head back". They collect their belongings, Zoe returns her flat iron to her bag, and they walk out of the bathroom. Soon as they step out, they hear a loud commotion from the direction of their classroom. They exchange a look of concern and quicken their pace.

From down the hall they can see students from other classes are gathering outside of their classroom, with the words "transfer" and "fight" sticking out. Zoe sees Mira eyes widen in panic, quickly connecting some dots.

"Oh god, it's probably Zack beating up Daniel."

"Why would he do that, aren't they hanging out tonight?

"Asking Daniel to hang out was more than likely just a ruse to lure him away from school. I guess he couldn't wait..." Mira bites her nails nervously.

When they reach the class, Mira and Zoe push their way through the crowd and after some shoving and a few curse words, they do break the wall of students and see exactly what Mira predicted.

Zack and Daniel are standing in the middle of the room surrounded by a horde of students. Zack is standing in his boxer's stance; both arms up protectively with one hand closer to the cheek ready to block a punch if needed. Daniel is standing there with his hand behind his head with nonchalant posture. Zoe blushes and is reminded of how cool Daniel is... he looks totally zen, unphased by Zack. Glancing over to Mira though, she can see the vehemence on her face.

Mira mutters quietly, only for Zoe to hear. "Of course, they have to friggen fight. I'm tired of this, text me when it's over." And she turns heel and pushes through the crowd. Zoe wants to follow Mira but... the chance to see Daniel fight is something she can't pass! And Mira probably wants to be alone.

Zack, noticing Mira's abrupt exit, lets out a yell and pulls his arm back in preparation to throw the first punch. Before Zack brings the fist forward, his arm is grabbed and stopped by Jay, the mysterious blonde who has never said a single word to anyone. Everyone gasps in disbelief, including Zoe. When has she ever seen Jay move?

The same surprise flicks across Zack's face but he recovers and snaps his arm out of Jay's grasp, with such force that Jay steps a few paces backward to regain balance. Before Jay can intervene again Zack rapidly pulls back for another punch, extending his fist with full force aimed center at Daniel's face.

In a move swift as the punch, Daniel jerks his head effectively dodging. This gets a "Ooo…" of impressment from the peanut gallery. Zack lets out another punch, and Daniel does another expert dodge. It's all happening so quick Zoe can barely keep up, amazed at their speed.

"How can he keep dodging?"

"That last attack shouldn't have missed!"

"Isn't he getting tired?"

"But why Daniel only dodging, can he not fight?"

The same pattern goes on for almost a minute. What seems to be almost a hit, ends as a miss when Daniel dodges. Using a pause between swings, Zack changes his posture slightly. While Daniel is distracted by his left fist, Zack pushes up his right aimed directly for Daniel's chin and leaving him no room to escape. Zack smirks and the class groans. Zoe closes her eyes and turns her head, not wanted to see that handsome face damaged.

But the class is cheering? She opens and Daniel has caught Zack's fist before it landed. Unbelievable! Daniel didn't even have his hands up prior but was still able to catch the punch? Her mouth drops open.

Daniel takes this moment of surprise to pull back his free hand, balled into a fist, and forcefully punch Zack right in the gut. Zack flies back a few feet in the air slamming into desks and lands face down groaning into the floor. The crowd goes wild, students are jumping and hollering at the surprise turn of events.

"Daniel's amazing!"

"He didn't want to fight but Zack left him no choice!"

"He's better than a pro!"

"One punch?! What a monster!"

Zack's friends gather around him and he pushes them away, standing up on his own. By now the yelling has attracted the attention of the teachers who are herding students back to class. Our homeroom teacher sees Zack on the floor and Daniel standing above him.

"What is going on here?!" Mr. Park bellows out red-faced.

"Nothing, I tripped." Zack wipes his chin where some spit is dribbling. He is staring coldly at the people who are still standing around.

"Sure, if you say so... Everyone go take your seat." The teacher waddles back to the front of the room. Zack awkwardly stands up and bursts out of the classroom, shoving Daniel with his shoulder as he passes. _God, he can be such a jerk. _Zoe runs up beside Daniel, taking his arm and holding it tight. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He's staring at his hand, like it's some foreign body that shouldn't belong there. Daniel gently pushes Zoe away, excusing himself, and takes his seat as the teacher begins fussing at the class to calm down. Zoe blushes at his touch but does take her seat. Not only is Daniel extremely attractive but he can hold his own in a fight?! Zoe thinks she's fallen even harder.

But I guess that fight between Zack and Daniel means tonight's plans are cancelled. Zoe wishes she could punch Zack too. Mira hasn't returned to class either. She'll have to call her once school is over.

* * *

Jay

Jay still doesn't know what possessed him earlier. When Zack started threating Daniel, it's like some switch went off in his brain. Never had he intervened before with a bully before, but Daniel is different for some reason. Jay doesn't want him getting hurt. Maybe it's because he looks so scared all the time, Jay wanted to protect him. But that was a laugh. Daniel's obviously talented, dodging Zack and ending the fight with one punch. Jay can't get a read on this guy.

He opens the bathroom door and can immediately smell the cigarettes. Must be some boys skipping class. Minding his own business, Jay walks over to the urinal.

"Let's get that asshole!"

"The transfer?"

"But Zack was no match..."

Jay doesn't recognize the voices; they must be from another class.

"Let's come at him all at once. There are three of us."

"One grab him from behind, the other two take the front."

"Wow, you have no shame."

"But we can't let him be like this."

Jay wishes he could glance into the stall and see these band of buffoons. Did they not just see Daniel kick Zack's ass? And Jay thought Daniel needed his help... Argh! Jay zips up and walks to the sink to wash his hands.

"I'll grab his arms with my herculean strength"

The other two laugh "Ha! What strength?"

"Whatever. Let's just beat him up today after school."

"Deal! Let kick his ass."

Jay hears the hiss of lite cigarettes being extinguished as they hit the toilet bowl water. In a moment of madness spurned on from the adrenaline still coursing through him from earlier, Jay walks to the stall the group is in and waits for them to head out. Soon as he hears the stall unlock, he shoves the door open making a loud clattering noise as it slams against the wall, pinning one of the boys behind it.

"Man, what the fu-" Jay's fists interrupts his speech and he is thrown backwards, hitting the wall so hard some blood comes out his mouth. The thug not currently stuck behind the door attempts a swipe at Jay, easily dodged. They are slow and obviously never trained, just a bunch of punks who think they can fight because they've hit a few people before.

Anger courses through Jay. What is their problem with Daniel? He doesn't want this, look at him! He shakes like a leaf. Since Daniel's arrival one week ago he has been nothing but sweet and nonconfrontational. Focusing his frustrations, he lands another solid punch on each of the boys. All three are now on the floor but another good hit will show that Jay is serious.

"_You should be living quietly"_ Jay's father's voice reverberates through his skull, deafening loud as if he was screaming at him. Ah, that's right. Jay shouldn't be fighting, it's going to cause more trouble than it's worth. Leaving them a crying mess on the floor, Jay turns heel and leaves as quietly as he arrived.

A classmate of his, Jiho, passes Jay on the way out of the bathroom.

"What the hell happened in here?!"

Jay smiles to himself. Technically…he always lives quietly.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jiho

It's about 2:00 a.m. in the morning and Jiho is abruptly woken by a phone call from the ID "Master". Jiho scrambles to answer, it's already rang twice! He'll be pissed.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to answer on the first ring?" Yep, he is pissed.

"I was asleep. I'm sorry..." Argh, Jiho hates this guy.

"No excuses G-hole. I called you for a purpose but now you're seriously pissing me off..."

"Ah, I can help! Tell me!" Jiho HATES this guy. Making him beg... but the punishment will be terrible if he resists.

"I'm outside the convenience store and out of money. Come here and lend me some cash."

"Right away..." Master, or his real name Soobin, hangs up.

Jiho puts on the first clothes he can find, grabs his wallet, and runs out the door. No one is awake and he should be back before his parent's notice. He runs for 5 minutes straight, ignoring the burning in his chest and his legs. If he is even a little late, he'll get beat for sure.

He turns the corner to the convenience store and sees his "Master", aka some upperclassmen asshole at his school with his two goonies, Doo and Hyuk, standing at the curb. Soobin's a bigger guy, but tall so it makes him look more like body builder than fat. With his hair styled in a pompadour, he's obviously going for the classic gangster look. The other two are also trying to look tough, unbuttoned uniforms showing their bare chest. All three are smoking cigarettes. There is also some girl dressed provocatively with him, Jiho has seen her hang out with them before but never at school. He doesn't know her name.

What different about them today is that their faces swollen from the beating they received from Jay earlier that day. Jiho still finds it hard to believe Jay would fight anyone but he's been weird lately.

But Jiho needs to focus on what happening now. Out of breath, he falls on his knees in front of his bullies, legs finally giving out. Soobin grab a handful of hair and yanks him around.

"What took you do so long? Huh?!" He lets go forcefully, knocking Jiho prone.

"I'm sorry...*puff* I... ran *puff* quick as... I could *puff*" Ahh, Jiho's lungs are burning. It hurts to talk.

Soobin squats down and pulls up Jiho from his shirt collar. "I know how you can make it up to us." The two boys and girl behind him start snickering. "You're gonna go into that store and you're going to steal a charger for me."

"But... that's illegal!" Jiho whimpers out.

They laugh even louder. "Of course, it is! What I'm doing is making some collateral."

"What?! Why..."

"Cause you saw too much today. I don't want word getting out about us and that blonde asshole."

"I won't tell anyone! Promise!"

"You really won't tell when we have a crime to report in case you wanna get talkative." He stands, pulling Jiho up by the collar to a standing position with him. "Now go. I have an Iphone X" and he pushes Jiho in the direction of the store.

He timidly walks into the store. This really sucks, this really sucks... Why does this always happen to him? Jiho didn't purposefully walk into the bathroom... Crap! This sucks! Scanning quickly, he can't find the chargers. But he catches Soobin's looking at Jiho through the window, looking wild, and Jiho can read his mind "Don't fucking test me G-hole".

Nervously, he balls his fists. His hands are sweaty. Jiho walks up to the counter, eyes down.

"Excuse me..."

"Welcome!" says a kind sounding voice. Jiho looks up and sees a kid very much like himself. The clerk is short and pudgy, looking like a chubby ball. Jiho is skinny and scrawny but other than weight differences they are much alike. Glasses, messy brown hair, homey clothes. Jiho takes his first breath of relief. This kid is like me. He notes that the clerk's name tag says Daniel and can't help but think of the new transfer student with the same name that is in his class at Jae Won High. He chuckles a little to himself at how different they are.

"Uh, what can I help you with?"

Oh right, Jiho must steal from him. Crap.

"Wh..where is your phone chargers?"

"I'll show you!" The clerk starts to step away from the register.

"No, no! I got it" Jiho trails off but the clerk is humming to himself, in his own little world. Jiho follows cursing himself... How is he gonna steal with the clerk right there?!

Toddling over to the front of the store, right beside the door, Daniel motions to the chargers. Jiho berates himself, if he hadn't of panicked when entering he could of grabbed them before the clerk even noticed!

"Uh, which type of phone do you have?"

"Iphone X."

"Okay! I'll take this over to the register to ring you up!" Daniel says still smiling. He's a nice kid but this has got to happen! Jiho has no other options. Staying his nerves and with a clumsy but swift motion, he grabs the charger before Daniel can, and shoves it up his shirt. Jiho turns heel and motions to run, but he slips and falls face first.

Daniel extends a hand towards Jiho. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you steal... I'll get in big trouble." Jiho moans, why does this guy have to be so nice?! He pushes himself up with one hand, the other holding the charger under his shirt tightly. Jiho yells out "No!", pushes Daniel away and makes a second attempt at the door running with his head down.

Not paying attention, Jiho runs headfirst into his bully who is now standing in the entrance to the store.

"Great job fucking this up Jiho. You!" Soobin gestures to Daniel. Daniel points a finger to himself, like asking "Me?"

"Yes, you! Both outside NOW!" Daniel slumps and they slowly walk out together. Daniel and Jiho really are the same, both at the bottom rung of the social ladder. He didn't even hesitate when commanded by a bully, he must also be used to this type of treatment.

Soobin makes Jiho and Daniel line up.

"Before I get started, Jiho, the charger?" Jiho sheepishly removes the charger from under his shirt and hands it to Soobin. Daniel watches, but not judgingly. He understands. Jiho gets a little teary eyed.

"Aw, is little G-hole upset? I'll tell you what... G-hole if you beat up this Piggy we'll leave you alone for good." Jiho's eyes get wide. Is Soobin for real? Will he truly leave him alone, and for once in his life live in peace? Jiho balls up his fist and stares at it.

"I'm only extending the offer for the next 10 seconds G-hole".

The girl finally speaks up, "Ugh, I didn't come out to see nerds fight. I'm gone."

Jiho looks at Daniel. He nods his head ever do slightly. What?! Daniel is okay with this? Maybe he understands what is at stake here. Jiho clinches his eyes, pulls his fist back and gives Daniel his best punch. And after that first punch, comes another, and then another. Jiho has never been on the other end of a punch before, and it feels... good. He hates himself for feeling this way, but damnit it's so frustrating! Why can't I be in the one in power? Why was I born weak? Why was I born poor? It's not fair!

Each slap and punch strike true against Daniel who isn't fighting back at all. Daniel holds his arms in a protective position to hide his face, occasionally grimacing at a punch that hits a weak spot.

"What's going on here?" A different voice! Jiho stops his assault and realizes that he's been crying. Walking towards them from the dark of an alley comes Eun Tae, or better known as Vasco. He is also a student at Jae Won High but in a different department. Vasco is the same age as Jiho, but he is ripped, covered in tattoos, and has facial hair. Vasco has lighter brown hair and sharp black eyes that gives him a serious, stoic face. He looks like he is 30, not 16. But he is famously known for being the leader of the Architecture department's gang, the Burned Knuckles.

Soobin and his goonies look nervous. Vasco scans back and forth between the bullies and the victims. eyes landing hard on Soobin. "Were you making them fight?"

"Ah, no... they wanted too..." Soobin looks at his feet.

Vasco jerks his arm out grabbing Soobin's neck, gripping tightly and holding him up in the air "You guys are bad guys."

Soobin is clawing as his neck, trying to break Vasco's grip but he isn't strong enough. Breathlessly Soobin pleads "Sorry! Let me down!" Vasco releases, Soobin falling to his knees gasping for breath and holding his throat. The goonies run over to check on him.

"You wanna get hit too?"

"No, no… we're going." And they scuttle away.

Vasco turns to look at Jiho and Daniel. "You guys better start bulking up." Jiho answers, "Thank Vasco".

"You know me? You from our school?"

"Yeah, the fashion department."

"Fashion, that's the transfer student's class, right?"

"Yep."

"The one who knocked down Zack?" Jiho sees out of that's Daniel's started kicking dirt around with his shoe.

"Yep!"

Vasco steps up and puts a hand on Jiho. "Tell the new guy, don't screw around." And a single tear rolls down his cheek. Beside him, it looks like Daniel is trembling, shaken up after tonight's events probably.

"Don't cry, and okay." Jiho tries to comfort this strange person.

Vasco puts his headphones in and walks away, mysteriously as he arrived. So, the rumors about Vasco must be true. He protects the weaklings and hates the cool kids, like a modern Robin Hood.

"I should probably head back home now... Oh!" Jiho pulls out his wallet and gives Daniel some money. "This is for the charger".

"Thanks." Daniel looks kinda green.

Jiho needs to set this right before he leaves. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault, I understand."

"Still sorry though."

"We're good." Daniel gives a reassuring smile.

"Well, see you around. My name is Jiho by the way." As Jiho walks away, Daniel returns to his counter.

The next day, Jiho is in lunch trying to balance three food trays over to where Soobin, Doo and Hyuk are sitting. Walking carefully as possible he's able to place the food without spilling any. Feeling triumphant he lets out a little "nice!" quiet enough for only him to hear.

Jiho started today off feeling hopeful that maybe Soobin would keep to this promise. But apparently Vasco intervening ruined the agreement. So, life continues as usual. Once placing Soobin and friend's food, Jiho walks back into the line to get his own. After paying for their meal, he is only left with some change but it's enough to get a plain bowl of rice. He pays and starts walking to the table with Soobin.

The cafeteria is getting a little louder and Jiho can feel excitement brewing. This can only mean one thing; the transfer has arrived. Zoe is clinging on Daniel's arm begging. "Danny? Let's eat together!" but Daniel isn't paying her much attention. He's staring right at Jiho? He gets a nervous, why is Daniel looking at me? They make eye contact and Daniel holds is hand up high and waves. Stunned, Jiho stops walking and stares as Daniel walk up to him.

"Same class, right? Let's eat together!" And he flashes a brilliant smile. He can see Zoe making an ugly face of displeasure from behind Daniel. The kids who hear Daniel start to talk.

"What, why him?"

"Crazy…"

"I'm jealous!"

Jiho is not liking all this attention and starts to cringe away from Daniel. No guy this cool ever showed interest in Jiho, he must be screwing with him. But Daniel doesn't back down, he puts his arm over Jiho's shoulder and guides him to the closest empty table, Zoe trailing behind.

Still smiling Daniel starts asking Jiho all sorts of questions. Where does he live? What food does he like to eat? Why don't we hang out this afternoon?

Jiho is still in shock, not knowing what to do. He's in a daze and just stares out blankly while Daniel does all the talking. Students are still gossiping about this strange interaction.

"Daniel must be looking out for him~"

"A heart of gold."

Jiho bites his lip_… Is Daniel trying to make me look pathetic? Now everyone must think I'm a charity case_.

A pause in Daniel's game of 20 questions and Jiho finally looks up at Daniel, who is staring down a passerby; Vasco and some others from the Architecture department. Vasco saved him yesterday, maybe he'll do the same again? But he keeps walking past, not even noticing Jiho. _He probably doesn't remember me._

Before Vasco's too far gone though, Daniel jumps out of his seat.

"Hey! Nice to meet you!" Is Daniel trying to talk to Vasco?

Jace Park, Vasco righthand man and best friend, leans and whispers to him "That's the new guy. Maybe he's picking a fight?" Jace has short black hair on the top and shaved sides, his most noticeable feature is his humorously large ears. At Jace's suggestion Vasco inquisitively inspects Daniel.

Jiho, still sitting and waiting for this terrible awkward interaction to be over, see that Vasco glanced over to him. They make eye contact for a second and Vasco switches his gaze back to Daniel. His peering eyes feel intense like the swirling eye of a storm. He walks over to the table.

"Ah… hey…" Daniel seems a little nervous now. Damn straight he should be.

"Who are you? You know me?" Oh no, Vasco's pissed. What did he say that night? Don't let the transfer mess with you, or something? "You. You've never been taking down, huh?" Daniel's looking sheepish, probably knowing he made a mistake. Vasco towards over them both. "Even if you're good-looking and strong" Vasco clutches Daniel's shoulder "Don't screw around" and gives the shoulder a tight squeeze.

"There it is! He grabbed his shoulder!" Of course, by now the whole cafeteria is watching.

"The squeeze of death!"

"It's over!"

"Even the strongest is brought to their knees! No one has ever resisted!"

Jiho can see the pain travel cross across Daniel's face, but he isn't dropping. Daniel lifts his hand opposite the shoulder Vasco is grabbing and removes Vasco's grip easily, like it was nothing, but still wincing in the pain as he speaks. "Sorry if I bothered you. I thought you were someone else."

Everyone is stunned into silence. Vasco is the strongest person in this school. Daniel is faster than Zack, stronger than Vasco…

Daniel let's go of Vasco's arm. "I should get going now." He grabs his tray and heads away leaving everyone stunned and in awe.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Daniel

The bell rings to dismiss students from class and Zack stands up abruptly, throws his backpack over one shoulder, and is the first person out of class. After today, it has been two weeks since their fight and Zack is not budging for Daniel's apologies.

Daniel really wanted to make a good impression to the first person he spoke at Jae Won High, but he royally failed that mission. The day of the fight, Zack and his two friends Hyun and Jun invited Daniel to hang out with them. He was ecstatic, this was the first time he's ever been asked out by friends before! Back at home Logan, Daniel's former bully, would "invite" him out only to torture him. But this is different. These are the coolest guys in the class, and they wanted to spend time with Daniel, as buddies! Of course, he jumped at the opportunity.

A couple hours pass, and Daniel is bouncing in his seat with excitement. He sees that Zack's eyes follow Mira as she walks out of the class with Zoe. Zack obviously likes her, so Daniel asked innocently "Is Mira coming too?" That was the wrong question. Zack misinterpreted Daniel's intent and thought he was showing romantic interest in Mira. "Ah, I'd never like her! It's not like that!" Daniel tries to reassure. "The fuck you mean, you'd never like her. You think she's ugly?!" Zacks spits at Daniel's feet. They exchange a few more words, and the end up fighting. But Zack has seemed to cool off by now. Daniel had tried to fix the bridge between him, but Zack just replies with "Shut up", and so Daniel does.

Daniel's holding his head in his hand, eyes closed, thinking of a way to rekindle this sad attempt at friendship. He looks up when he hears some scuffling and sees Zoe almost tripping while heading over to Daniel's desk first, beating the other girls who were also walking his direction. She leans downward to get eye level with Daniel, which makes her shirt hang dangerously low. The classmate's start their usual insults directed at Zoe and Daniel adverts his gaze from her chest.

"God, what a hoe."

"She never lets anyone get a chance to speak with Daniel."

"Bitch."

The other students are so cruel to Zoe, but she doesn't seem to mind. Daniel admires that part of her which is why he hangs around with her. Even though he really wishes she'd stop flirting.

"You free today Danny? You'd said we could hang out later, you know." She winks.

"I'm sorry but I can't. I made plans already."

"With who?" Zoe crosses her arms.

"With Duke."

"Who?"

"He's a student from the music class. He's asked me to help him for the school festival".

"Oh really?! Are you going to perform?"

"I think so!" Daniel blushes a little, it's still embarrassing to imagine himself in front of a crowd singing. Daniel and Duke just happened to cross paths one day and Duke sprung the question on him, asking if he'd want to help. With no good excuse to say no, Daniel agreed without fully understanding what he was getting himself into. "We'll be singing an original piece Duke wrote himself."

"I'll be there front and center cheering for you!" Zoe holds her hands up about shoulder level and shakes them in a small motion back and forth. She tends to do this when excited. It pushes here boobs out a little more, and Daniel looks away again not trying to be creepy.

"Thanks Zoe!" He smiles while looking downward. She stares back at him, unmoving, and Daniel is worried he did something weird and tilts his head with question and concern.

Mira comes us beside her and gently guides her away. "Bye Daniel, see you on Monday."

"Bye guys!" Daniel waves. That's right, it's finally the weekend! A break... It's only been three weeks since starting this new school but everyday has felt like an adventure. He is used to the attention of bullies trying to beat him up from his former life, but all this positive attention is foreign and exhausting. But Daniel doesn't want to be ungrateful, he'd rather this than the alternative he would have experienced. Which reminds him of yesterday's little incident with Vasco. He's glad that he could deescalate that situation before it ended up like the Zack incident. Thinking of Vasco brings him to Jiho, who has already left. Maybe yesterday he was a little too forward with Jiho. If Little Daniel from the convenience store sees Jiho again, he'll have to convince Jiho that Big Daniel really does want to be friends.

Daniel keeps scanning the room to see who else is still here. A couple of people he doesn't know who sit in the front of class and Jay, who sits in the back left-side corner beside the window. Daniel isn't sure what to make of Jay since he's so quiet but he helped Daniel out in that fight between him and Zack so he can't be a bad guy right?

Daniel stands up, puts his backpack on and walks over to Jay wishes him a good weekend with a smile.

Wordlessly, Jay does a tiny wave back.

Yeah, he seems like a nice guy!

* * *

Daniel heads over to meet Duke in the music wing of the school. They were able to rent out a practice rooms that comes with speakers and microphones. Duke is already practicing, and Daniel watches from the window. He is amazing! The beats, the flow, the rhythm, its infectious. Daniel's never heard the song before so it must be the original they are performing. Duke spots Daniel from outside and waves him in.

"Thanks for helping me out." Duke hands Daniel a sheet of paper. "This is the singing section lyrics."

Right to work, it seems! Daniel skims the paper over "Seems simple enough. "

Duke bends down near the speakers, where his phone is plugged in to the speakers with an Aux Chord. "I'm gonna hit play and sample out how your section should fit to the beat okay? Then we'll start practicing together".

Duke hits play and starts nodding his head to the beat. At the right time, he starts singing the song and he sounds good. Really good! So good that a few students from outside peak in the window, but all they see is Duke singing. Some giggle, other rolls their eyes, but eventually all the curious people walk away.

Daniel starts examining Duke for himself. He is short, maybe 5'3? Probably taller than Little Daniel. His black hair is styled short and wears fashionable clothes. He looks like everything Little Daniel ever wanted to be, of course before meeting Tall Daniel. But Duke isn't conventionally attractive, he supposes. Yes, he is short, round, and has very large face that makes his beady eyes look even smaller... but who cares what he looks like?

Duke's been switching up between the rap and singing verses for about 2 minutes now. He has a great voice and performs confidently. People were attracted to his voice, but they turn away once they see his appearance. Does his physical body have anything to do with his musical ability? Absolutely not.

"Alright, think you got this?" Duke asks.

Daniel had been daydreaming and the stop in music startles him."Oh yeah. Hehee.." Embarrassed that he was caught dazing, he rubs his nose reflexively.

"You sure? I can show you again" Duke looks hopefully, unbothered that Daniel was drifting his thoughts.

"No, it's fine! Just sing with me this first time."

Duke hits play.

The music starts again and there is a second of panic in Daniel. Can this Daniel even sing? Little Daniel surely can't, the neighbors would complain that it sounded like a cat dying when he did karaoke at home. But he sees Duke looking expectantly. He will try.

When the first note comes out, it's squawky. But he attempts to fix it and settles into a comfortable range with his new vocal cords over time. Once he finds that sweet spot and surprised at how well it sounds, Daniel easily transitions between notes and doesn't get out of breath at the harder sections. Completely focused on the lyrics, Daniel blocks out all other distractions. When Duke's rap sections start, they blend effortlessly into the song and compliment the singing section perfectly. They finish and beam at each other.

There is a sound of roaring applause from the hallway. It seems like while Daniel was singing, the curious bystanders were brought back by Daniel's voice. Daniel blushes but quickly remembers they ignored Duke a second ago. He turns his attention back to Duke "I think that went great!"

"Great!? That was amazing! You said you've never sung before?" Duke is resetting the song, preparing for another go.

"Other than the occasional Karaoke, nope."

"For a newbie, that was fantastic. But it was far from perfect. I've made a few mental notes while you were singing on how you can improve." Duke starts drilling Daniel with terms he's never heard of before: tenor, vibrato, vocal colors… He listens intently trying to absorb everything Duke is teaching.

* * *

Little Daniel been working for almost five hours now and not a single customer has stopped by in hours. Even though he's not sleepy, the boredom's making his eyes droop. The clock on the register says 2:43 a.m. He counts the seconds in his head until it switches over to 2:44 a.m. That one minute felt like the most excruciating eternity.

"Aahh!" he screams at no one in particular. He starts pacing behind the counter, what can he do to kill time? Should he start exercising? Daniel does a few pathetic attempts at pushups but can't even complete one fully. His arms shiver and wobble, giving up before he is barely lifting his chest. He lets go, laying face first on the ground. The chime of the door goes off, someone just entered the convenience store.

He stands up as quickly as this body can and sees an elderly man waiting to be assisted.

"Are you okay, young man?"

"I'm fine! I just uh, dropped something."

"Mhm"

"Yep"

A couple pregnant moments of silence. This is getting awkward.

"Can I help you sir?"

"About time you asked. Give me a pack of Marlboro reds"

Daniel rings up the old man and passes him the cigarettes. "Have a good night, sir."

"Mhm."

Daniel watches the elder walk away and cut a right at the fork in the road. Under a streetlight he sees a different old man, whose been loitering the past few nights. He'll stand on that corner for hours, watching as people walk bye. A few times he's yelled out at women who are walking alone, but he doesn't stop them or anything.

Another customer walks in and by the time Daniel has assisted them and peaks back over to the streetlight, the man is gone.

One more hour pass, and no one else shows up. He thinks back to today events with Duke with Tall Daniel. Curiously, Daniel asked if Duke's ever been scouted by an agency before.

"I've put in applications and even had a few interviews, but I've never been called back. They all say my music's great though and to keep it up." Daniel can guess why he hasn't been called back. Probably the same reason why the crowd ignored Duke earlier but raved at Daniel. The way his talent is overlooked just because of something so unimportant as appearance is disappointing.

At least his new body can be of some use though. Apparently, Duke's bid to perform at the festival wouldn't be approved until he found a co-performer. That's why he asked Daniel to help. And he wasn't offended, even though Duke only picked him for looks. It's a bonus that the Daniel's new body can also sing well, along with doing everything else almost perfectly. And if his new body is good for anything, he can gather attention. Once everyone is forced to listen to Duke, they won't be able to deny his talents any longer. Daniel will use his new voice to help his new friend.

A light bulb turns on in Daniel's head. He can get extra singing practice here! Yeah, this voice sounds like a frog, but he can still practice the basics and memorize the lyrics. With two bodies, that is double the potential practice time.

He spends the rest of the night practicing. The festival is in one week and there is no time to lose.

* * *

Little Daniel returns home at 6:30 a.m. He sees his new, perfect body sleeping on the pallet in the floor. Before he wakes himself up (which is STILL weird to comprehend), Daniel watches his new body's chest rise and fall slowly as he slumbers. As exhausted as this body feels right now, when Daniel wakes up his other body he will feel fully refreshed. Daniel hasn't truly slept in weeks since his consciousness alternates between whichever body is awake. He wonders what dreams he's been missing out on.

Little Daniel winds his arm back and with a hard slap on the cheek, Big Daniel shoots up awake to catch Little Daniel before he falls over and hurts himself. Big Daniel tucks in his old body and gets ready for school.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Jay

Per usual, Jay is resting his chin in his left hand looking out the window. He hears the normal prattle and conversations going on between students which Daniel is almost always the topic of. He is Jae Won High's little celebrity and Jay always knows who Daniel has talked to, hung out with, pissed off, and tossed punches with simply because everyone won't shut up about it.

It's not a problem though, Jay likes it. Jay is kept up to date with Daniel's life, which is something he's been extremely interested in lately. The little bits of information that gets passed around are precious and he keeps an ear always open to hear the newest gossip. The freshest bit, that him and Vasco had a rather heated discussion in lunch a few days ago perks Jay up and he titles his ear in the direction of the conversation of two boys who sit diagonally from him.

"You know Vasco's vice grip, yeah?"

"Of course. It brings the strongest man to his knees every time."

"It didn't with Daniel."

"Bullshit!"

Even Jay doesn't believe this. He looks over at the two boys. Jay scans their faces; he think's their names are Hyun and Jun.

"I saw it myself! He actually grabbed Vasco's arm and pulled him off." Hyun crosses his arms and nods his head up and now.

"Damn, that boy can fight. He's probably some mobster." Jun slouches in his chair.

"A Gang? Are you serious? Have you seen what he wears?" Hyun's disgust seeps into his voice.

"What do you mean?" Jun slouches even further. Jay thinks he'll slip out of the chair soon.

"His clothes are nameless garbage. And he wears the same shirt and shoes every day."

Jun straightens up and readjusts himself. _Finally_.. "Yeah, I guess he does. I haven't noticed."

"Any self-respecting person wouldn't be caught dead wearing his clothes. I think he's gotten lucky and that's it".

"Maybe it's time to put him back into his place..." Jun smirks to Hyun. "I know a few friends who also want to give Daniel a good pounding. Their girlfriends are so obsessed, it's driving them crazy."

"Go ahead and text them to meet after us school. I already know which street Daniel takes home; we'll jump him there... See if he really is all that tough" Hyun cracks his knuckles.

It's an interesting thought Hyun has brought up. Discreetly, Jay has also been observing Daniel and he does wear the same undershirt shirt and shoes every day. Being in the fashion department at Jae Won High means students are allowed freedom in their uniform, and most do customize their wardrobe, including himself. But Daniel wears the standard uniform every day. And his shoes do look extremely worn...

Free period is over, and the students start filtering in. Daniel enters with Zoe and Mira and takes his seat. Hyun and Jun follow Daniel with their eyes and share a meaningful glance with each other. Jay sighs. What pathetic, jealous, assholes

Jay redirects his thoughts to his own wardrobe. Surely, he has too much to wear and most is going to be out of season soon. He'll probably donate them anyways so why not just give it to Daniel? It will be like a gift. But Jay and Daniel have only interacted directly twice. Once when Jay attempted to stop Zack, which failed embarrassingly, and the other when Daniel said goodbye the other day. Randomly giving Daniel a gift would be so out of place, he would probably be creeped out. Biting the inside of his lip, Jay internally fights between wanting to help and not making awkward interactions.

As he thinks, Daniel's voice calls him out of his haze. "Hello!" Jay jumps and looks towards him. But Daniel isn't talking to Jay, he answered his cellphone. Jay shuffles his bangs making sure his face is obscured and hiding the blush that's spreading across his face. He stills listens in on conversation though.

"Aw, mom you don't have to come over... I'm working tonight anyways." Daniel has a job. Interesting.

"We can celebrate my birthday another time." Jay could sing. An excuse! A totally normal excuse, even for acquaintances.

"No, it's really fine, really!... Uh huh... okay mom. Love you too! I'll call later. Bye!"

Jay pulls out his fashion magazines and begins furiously cutting out and gluing outfits together. Luckily most of his clothes are in these magazines, since he orders straight from them. Anything else he can find and print off at home. So, involved in his arts and craft project, he doesn't even notice a group of girls staring at him.

"Haha, what's Jay even doing?"

"He's been so animated lately..."

"Wonder what's up."

"Girls! We are beginning the lesson! Turn around and pay attention."

* * *

In unison "Yes, sir..."

Jay's motorcycle loud roar has always been his favorite part of driving it. He likes the irony. The quiet boy who says nothing having the loudest, most annoying vehicle. It's poetic.

Today however, the motorcycle is also the most convenient mode of transportation. He was running short on time since he had to run first home and instruct his butler on the task Jay had planned. His butler is extremely effective, so there is no worry about it being completed in a timely manner. Another great part of the motorcycle was the helmet, fully obscuring his face which allows him the anonymity needed for today's ass whooping prepared. Taking down some kids he doesn't know is one thing, but he'd rather avoid an incident with a classmate. He is already breaking the rules his father has set. But that little "_You should be living quietly"_ gets a little quieter each time Daniel is in trouble. It's like Daniel is a magnet for every terrible person in the world, and Jay has the power to protect him. So why not use it? If no one knows, he is living quietly. Daniel barely been enrolled for three weeks and he has Zack, Vasco, and countless random "thugs" at the school whose been trying to beat him up. Of course, Daniel is only aware of a few on these incidents. Jay has been very discreet in helping Daniel out.

Jay's motorcycle skids around the corner, and he arrives at the alley where the ambush is planned which he "conveniently" overhead heard when outside smoking a cigarette earlier. He parks the bike and walks over. Hyun, Jun, and four other boys all wearing the school uniform are all squatting playing cards. Jay's approach gets their attention, and one boys Jay doesn't know is the first to stand. Curling his upper lip, trying to look intimating, he growls out "What's your problem?"

Jay doesn't respond. The boy take a few steps closer and gives Jay a shove. "I said, what's your problem asshole?" Jay doesn't usually fight so many opponents at once, but these are just average punks. And by the way they are holding themselves, he can tell they aren't trained. He gives them all a chance to stand up, while the boldest of the pack starts knocking on Jay's helmet asking "Helloooo, anyone home?" Once everyone is on their feet, he grabs the thug's hand mid knock. Jay doesn't like to fight dirty. Now that everyone is standing, he can begin.

"Fucking let gooaaAAHHH" Jay squeezes, trying to crush the hand bones of the thug. He doesn't, but a quick kick knocks him off balance where he falls to his knees, with Jay still holding his hand tight. Jay knees him in the face and bend's his arm sideways popping it out of socket. Jay lets go of his hand, and he falls over. The first K.O of the night.

The other 3 unknowns, run towards Jay at once, effectively bottlenecking themselves in the tight alleyway making it easier for Jay to fight one on one. The type of fighting style Jay is formally trained in is Systema. It's all about keeping the enemies away; If they can't touch you, they can hurt you. And Jay's enemies just made that very easy for him. He makes quick work of the next three, all on the ground crying before it's been a minute. Jay steps over them, preparing for this next two opponents.

"Alright, you've proved your point! I don't know what we did to piss you off but damn! We're sorry!" Says Hyun, lifting his hands in defeat. Jun glances quickly between the fallen and Hyun. Dejected, he lifts his hands too. "Truce?" Jay shakes his head back and forth, letting them know there is no truce.

Hyun is a few inches shorter than Jay, so Jay grabs Hyun by the collar lifting him up to they are nose to nose. He winds a fist back and Hyun flinches, tears welling up in his eyes. Hyun starts bawling and snot oozes out his nose. "I'm swhorry, I'm swhorry man! Whatevher I did, I'm swhorry!" His crying making him hard to understand.

Jay lowers is fist, drops Hyun, and he makes an arm gesture like you'd make with a dog getting it to scram. They understand what he's saying, and they start hobbling away. Hyun and Jun helping the injured hobble away.

Taking a quick inventory of himself, it looks like no blood got on Jay. He pulls back his sleeve and checks the time on his watch. Daniel will be heading home soon. For the past two days he's been staying after late, practicing music with Duke. Jay gets back on his motorcycle, reeves the engine, the bikes leans back on one wheel before it finally gets enough traction to propel him forward.

* * *

Jay arrives at Daniel's house in a few minutes. Jay parks the motorcycle around the corner, out of sight, and walks towards Daniel's home. Thankfully his butler has come through. Two dozen duffle bags full of Jay's old clothing, shoes, and accessories are piled outside Daniel's humble little home.

Looking at Daniel's house, he really must be poor. Jay doesn't care though; this makes Daniel more admirable. Remembering the conversation Daniel had on the phone earlier, Daniel is going to school while working. Managing work and school is hard, sometimes impossible. Jay has done similar before, when his father required him to be more involved in the family company. It's tiring, but Daniel always looks so happy at school like he isn't fazed by his living situation. Daniel's optimistic attitude must be catching cause ever since Jay's been paying attention to him, he has also felt much more alive. Finally, something to break the monotony of school, home, school, home, school, home repeating as days bleed together.

So badly, does Jay want to reach out to Daniel and finally break this barrier he's created for himself. Well, really the barrier his father has created with all this bullshit of "living quietly" after the incident in middle school. His dads already bought the silence of everyone involved. That or they mysteriously moved out of country never to be seen from again. In a way, Jay knows his father is trying to protect him. As the second son to the immense H Group conglomerate, Jay will always be followed by watchful eyes. That's why he chose this little no name school. Even though Jae Won High produces idols, they easily overshadow everyone else here. But it's also not fair, this half-life that Jay's been forced into.

Jay checks his watch again. Daniel should be arriving any second. He pulls out his phone, turns the camera to selfie mode, and fixes his hair with the reflection. It's kind of hard to see since his bangs are in the way, but he looks good. He pockets the phone and walks over to grab a bag. He absentmindedly picks the one on top, a blue duffle bag of his sister's. He fiddles with the bag for a second.

Daniel can be now be seen in the distance, walking home. Jay, feeling awkward just standing there, heads forward to meet him halfway. Daniel sees Jay, waves, and quickens his pace. Jay keeps his speed but gives a smile back.

"Hey Jay! Do you live out here too?"

Shake.

"Oh, you were dropping these bags off. What are they?" Wait. did Daniel just understand him? A coincidence surely.

This time Jay nods, followed by a shrug. He flops the bag at Daniel's feet. Jay wrote a small note on the bag and slipped it under the plastic cover where a name tag would be. It reads "Happy Birthday".

"A Birthday present? For me?!" Daniel excitingly opens the bags, searching the contents. He starts to pull out some shirts, with a big smile adorns his beautiful face.

"These are great Jay! But... I can't accept. It's too much".

Shake shake.

"You were going to throw them out anyways?" Not a fluke. He can really understand Jay's body language.

Nod.

"Well in that case..." Daniel rubs his hand on the back of his head, looking bashful with a small blush forming under his cheeks. "If you were gonna toss them anyways, I might as well take them!" Daniel's still looking at the clothes, Jay can hear Daniel say "Thanks Jay! Oh wait. where did he go?"

After that blush, Jay had to bolt. It was too much for his heart, which was about to burst pounding in his chest. Before he is out of ear shot, he can hear Daniel yell "Oh my god!" As he finds the other bags stacked outside his house.

Jay walks into his luxury apartment, slowly removing his gear and he walks to his bedroom room. He flops on the bed with a thump and covers his face with his arm. Littering the room are the other notes he was drafting for Daniel. Some seemed too wordy, others too formal. One note, he wrote asking to be Daniel's friend. That one was really embarrassing, and he balled it up and tossed it away.

His butler walks in. "Did everything go as planned, Mister Jay?". Still hiding under his arm, Jay makes a small nod. "I'm glad it went well. Now excuse me." Jay can hear the smile in his Butler's voice. Not only did today go well, but better than he could have ever expected.

* * *

Zoe

Zoe hears the door in the back of the room slide open and she twists around in the opposite direction to see who walked in. It's Daniel, and he's looking more splendid than ever. He's wearing a beige trench coat styled jacket, with Balenciaga shoes, and a Burberry sweater. And he is looking gorgeous, the clothes fit him perfectly like the gods dressed him this morning. Zoe's mouth is agape, and she silently follows with her eyes as he sits down. Other students have noticed too, and name brands and price estimates are whispered around the room. Passing his own seat first, Daniel walks up to Jay.

"Hey Jay, thanks for the presents! They're great." Jay turns to reply but Daniel's attention is distracted by Hyejin and Mina rubbing their hands up and down Daniel's arm.

"Daniel, I didn't know you owned such an expensive jacket. It looks great!"

"You think so? It was a gift!" He gives a dazzling smile. Mesmerized, Zoe just stares, she doesn't even stop Hyejin and Mina from flirting. Had Daniel always had those dimples?

"A gift? I wish I could get gifts like that…"

"It was just some hand-me-downs from a friend. I do like the jacket though."

"A hand-me-down designer jacket?! What type of friends do you have?"

"Daniel Park! Come here for a second." The teacher is waving a piece of paper around. The teacher must have walked in while everyone was gawking at Daniel. The paper has the grade 36 written in red ink. Daniel turns around and walks towards the teacher.

"Aw man, I failed again?" He slumps.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Zack

It's finally the day of the stupid festival. Everyone yapped about it almost as much as they yap about Daniel. Just thinking of his name gets him pissed off all over again. Stupid fucking Daniel, with his stupid fucking face and his perfect blah blah blah. Maybe after today and he finally performs that dumb song everyone will finally shut up about him.

He walks into the school courtyard from the street. It's been fully decorated for the event, which "required" participation and attendance for all students. Fucking garbage rule. There are booths everywhere; each department is required to make one and raise money for the school. But the definition of "booth" is taken very broadly.

The architecture department has a wooden board that's been painted to look like a clown, but the heads been cut out so someone can put theirs in. The sign says, "Pay a dollar to throw a water balloon at Vasco!" Anyone who passes by reads the sign and hurries away. Dejected and with an empty donation bowl Vasco is crying to himself. Truly a sad clown. Hah, Zack makes himself laugh. Now if only Mira thought he was so funny.

He looks over to the Fashion and Modeling department's booth. Every year those two departments collaborate to make a mock runway. This year they also added another booth selling little ribbons and other ugly accessories. Zoe is currently stationed there selling ribbons. Boys are buying a few, but only to get a chance to look down her shirt like the gross pigs they are.

Still walking around, taking everything in, he sees the Beauty Department. They have a real booth providing cheap haircuts done by the only male member of the department, Eli Jang. He's terrible and guaranteed to give you the ugliest cut of your life but he's hot so the girls let him fuck up their hair. Eli has his short hair dyed a light purple, the undercut kept natural black and his bangs in the comma style. He's tall and seems muscular, but the guy is a wimp, always letting others walk over him. Zack usually ignores Eli; he can appreciate the guy just wants to be left alone. The current girl Eli is working on has one side of her bang's inches shorter than the other. With tears brimming in her eyes she assures Eli that it looks great, stands up, and runs away. Eli shrugs and says, "next please!"

Finally, the coup de 'tat, another combined stage for the Music and Dance students. This is always the biggest part of the festival and is saved for the evening proceedings. Students hoping to become idols will show off their singing, instrument, or dance skills in attempts to get scouted by a talent agency. This event is really what makes their school famous and there will be lots of company representatives here later in the day. Currently the stage is being used for a different reason. A stupid tradition where the "hot" boys are auctioned off to girls for a single date and the proceeds are used as school funding. Is gross and archaic. Zack's glad he wasn't invited to participate.

The crowd is starting to get antsy though, the auctions must be starting soon. Zack walk towards the crowd but stays in the back where he has a better view since he is easily inches taller than most people. First up is some jerkoff from the Architecture department. Who the fuck is he? Zack ain't never seen him before. He tunes out the bids and checks his phone.

The crowd claps, signaling the auction for the Architecture student concluded. Next up is another jerkoff from the Music Department, a self-proclaimed "rapper". Zack recognizes him but doesn't know his name. Once the bidding starts it's dead silent. He can't help but laugh at this poor dude. No one in the whole school wants him! People cut eyes at Zack, but he doesn't care. He sneers back making an ugly face and they turn around. Someone from the crowd calls out "fifty cents!" and makes everyone laugh. Why didn't Zack think of that one? It's good. Music dude walks off, looking ashamed.

Next is an upper classman from the Modeling Department. Zack doesn't know his name either, but all the girls start excitingly bidding for this one. The amount creeps up until it's almost at 400$. Who the fuck here has that much money to toss around? And for one date with this flippy haired fool? Stupid. Zack takes his phone out again to scroll on social media.

The last auction is about to come up and the announcer tries to remind everyone of tonight's talent show. He is drowned out by the screeching crowd as the next man-whore walks on stage. Zack doesn't even have to look up from his phone. From the reaction he already knows it's gonna be that prick. How they hell did they wrangle Daniel into doing this? Zoe probably tricked him into thinking it was for something else, just so she can try to get a date. The only way Daniel would ever hang out with the hag is if she paid him. Pathetic.

As the numbers are thrown out, each hundreds of dollars more than the last, Zack turns around and walks away. He passes Jay, the weirdo in his class, at the pay booth for bids. Overhearing the confused workers "Uh, sir. Men can't bid. It's for girls only". Jay desperately grabs his head and looks back and forth between the stage and the girls. He's waving a handle full of cash at her and he's gotta be holding about ten thousand dollars. Zack keeps on walking.

From the stage the announcer yells "And the highest bid goes to this young lady! A monstrous five thousand dollars, beating the previous record of 650$! Thanks for showing up everyone, come back tonight to see Daniel perform!" And even more screaming. Great. Zack walks away from everyone trying to find a remote spot to smoke.

What Zack doesn't understand is why everyone is so crawled up Daniel asshole, worshipping the ground he walks on. He only handsome, athletic, a good fighter and... damnit. Zack sits at the closest bench holding his head in his hands. He really can't compete with Daniel. Of course, Mira likes him. Ever since Daniel and Zack's fight, Mira has been avoiding him. He's gone up to her countless time trying to apologize promising he won't fight again, but he's broken that promise countless times in the past. "You're out of chances", she said.

Zack laughs at himself. What is he but a washed-up boxer? Reached his prime while still in middle school and hasn't achieved anything since then. The embarrassment of coming second place in the national competition, to _that guy_, in front of Mira was humiliating. How she tried to comfort him after just hurt his pride. Ever since then Zack can't seem to stay out of a fight. He knows why he fights in front of Mira.

"I want to show you I'm not a loser."

"What did you say?" It's Mira. She is sitting beside him, for how long though?! He's didn't even notice.

"It's nothing..." He fumbles in his pocket for a lighter, pulls a cigarette out of the cartoon, and tries to light it up. Mira smacks them both out of his hand. Zack's so despondent, he doesn't have enough energy to be angry at her. His response is barely a whisper.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Smoking is bad for you, dummy."

"Hmpft." She's staring at him hard. The way she always does when looking at Zack, like she can see right through him and read every little aspect of his being and the pieces Zack doesn't even know he has. He can't stare back. He looks at his hands instead. The voice in his head reminding Zack that he'll never deserve Mira.

She sighs. "Remember when we were little, and you got jealous when I told you I had a new best friend?"

"Yeah. And you left out the part it was a teddy bear. I was about to go beat some bear's ass."

A giggle escapes her lips as she covers her mouth, smiling weakly. "Yep. You were jealous of a bear."

"Ah, fuck. Why you are bringing this up?" She's purposefully humiliating him now, talking about dumb memories.

"Because. You've always been jealous over nothing." She's looking right at Zack.

He looks up and meets her gaze. "But that fucking bear. I thought he was gonna steal my girl."

"No one, not even a bear, could take me away from you." She raises her hands and cups Zack's cheek. They stay like this for a moment before she stands up and walks away.

"He- Hey! Wait, come back!" Zacks up and running after Mira. This feeling a million times better than winning any stupid competition.

* * *

Daniel

"I uh... haven't seen you around before? Nice to meet you?" Daniel shifts his weight between his feet, not looking at the girl who just "bought" a date with him and her intimating bodyguard.

The girl standing before him is barely shorter than Daniel, standing at a about 5'7. She's well-proportioned with voluminous curves with a tiny waste. Her long black hairs cascades over her shoulders and frames her small face. A graceful nose, plump lips, and big black eyes which are currently taciturnly looking at Daniel. She crosses her arms and doesn't respond.

After the auction, he was whisked away by the coordinators to meet his date and make plans. During the bidding war it got little heated between Zoe and another classmate, who he was earlier warned about. Apparently that chick, always wins her bids and tortures her dates for the whole day. Previous winners came up to Daniel and warned him beforehand. Eventually the bids got ridiculous and a new comer arrived, the stranger in front of him right now, and shut everyone else down offering a staggering amount of money.

"Well, thanks for saving me I guess?" Daniel shrugs out.

"Saving you? Why would I save you? You think that other girl would be so dreadful to date you need saving from her?" Her words spit out like venom.

"No, I just meant that-"

"I know what you meant. But don't worry, I have no intention of using that date."

"But you just paid five thousand dollars...?"

She scoffs and readjusts her position to put her hands on her hip. She leans in "You think you're worth more or something?"

"No, no! But it's…"

She leans back, hand still on her hip. "All I wanted was a chance to see you. And all I see is some jerk. Good-bye." She turns around quickly and starts walking to her car. Daniel needs to clear the air here, obviously she is misunderstanding. He reaches his arm out to stop her, but it's grabbed by her bodyguard. He's a terrifying man with spiky black hair and dark sunglasses. Edges of a scar are peaking out around the glasses. He's wearing a bright yellow suit, which is more luxurious then gaudy.

His voice is rough. "Want me to break his arm?"

She sighs. Already sitting in the car, leaning out to speak "No Gun. Let's just go." His grip is stronger than Vasco's, Daniel's trying to pull his arm back but Gun's not giving.

"Your father hired me to stop anyone from touching you." Gun's intense gaze can be felt even through his impervious shades.

"And he hasn't. Now come on." Gun releases his grip, sneering. He gets into the drivers seat of the car and drives away.

Daniel rubs his arm where a bruise is forming. God, she was mean. He hears shuffling coming from behind him and looks, seeing Duke running up.

"We gotta head backstage now and get ready. You need to change too."

"Yeah, on my way."

* * *

Jiho

Evenings finally came and the crowd gathering around the stage has about a thousand people. Jiho is short so he pushes his way to the front. Of course, everyone is here to see Daniel, so they put him last in the setlist. But all the starters are good and get a nice round of applause.

There a brief break; a band is up next and they must set up their instruments first. Jiho waits patiently for Duke and Daniel.

A few days ago, Jiho was avoiding Daniel like the plague. But a few days ago Jiho stopped by the convenience store and hung out with Little Daniel for a while. They talked for hours about nothing and eventually the topic drifted to school and the transfer.

"Do you know Daniel Park?" say Little Daniel.

"Yeah, why?"

"That's my uh…roommate."

Jiho's mouth dropped. "You are kidding me?!"

Little Daniel scratches behind his ear, smiling. "Nope! I know it's kinda ironic. Daniel and Daniel."

Since the incident in lunch with Vasco, Jiho's been wary of Daniel. Against his will, Tall Daniel is always forcing the two together. Now it's common occurrence that they eat, work, walk together. Jiho just stays silent, waiting for when Daniel finally lets it slip this is all a joke.

"He thinks you're pretty cool, you know." Little Daniel starts wiping down the counter with a rag.

"Who?"

"Daniel."

"Bullshit."

"I'm serious!"

"Why would someone as popular as Daniel think I'm cool?" Jiho leans on the counter, still damp.

"Same reason he's my friend. Daniel likes everyone. You should give him a chance."

"I think he's just picking on me."

"Daniel would never pick on anyone. He's helped me get out of trouble countless times since I moved here." Jiho turns around, leaning backwards on the counter, bending his arms to hold himself up. Skeptically rubbing his chin in thought.

So, for the past few days, Jiho has decided to open a bit more. Jiho's been staying after watching Daniel and Duke practice their performance.

The announcer breaks Jiho out of his daydream.

"Now for the final event... An original song written and performed by Daniel!" The crowd yells in excitement "Oh, wait... and Duke!". A smaller yell follows.

Daniel and Duke walk up on stage. Both fashionably dressed, but Daniel's clothing fitting his body better. Yeah, you can have nice things but if the body does match it just won't work. Jiho looks at Duke and shakes his head. What a waste of perfectly good talent.

The music starts and Duke begins to beat box. Jiho has heard the two practice this song a dozen times, so he knows the cue for Daniel to start singing. Daniel looks nervous though, why? Everyone loves him. He basically shits gold around here. Daniel wipes the sweat away from his eyes and gives Duke a nod. Duke then makes a cue and it's Daniel's turn to start the bridge.

But it comes out off-key. Jiho groans, how embarrassing. Daniel closes his eyes tight and opens them full of fire and determination. His voice finds the right note and it's smooth sailing from then on out. Jiho's glad he could turn the performance around; it would have been awkward to deal with the gossip if Daniel messed this up.

It ends, and the crowd gives a deafening roar of applause. Daniel and Duke hug on stage before waving goodbye to the crowd and disappearing behind the stage. The crowd starts thinning out but Jiho wants to wait and see the Double D's. Let them know how great they did.

He waits by the stage exit for a few minutes, scrolling on his phone. He sees a recording of Duke and Daniel's performance has already been updated to Facebook. But it's been cropped so only Daniel is visible. Sucks to be Duke, Jiho laughs to himself.

"Hey Jiho!" It's Daniel and Duke.

"Nice performance guys! It's already been uploaded on Facebook."

"Really?! Let me see!" Duke's chunky fingers grab Jiho's phone. "Wow, it already has over 200 views!"

"That's crazy" Daniel chimes in. Almost a foot taller than Jiho and Duke, Daniel leans over to watch. "Oh, but they cropped you out Duke."

"That fine. People would rather see you anyways."

"No, that's not right. You wrote and produced everything. I did basically nothing." Why is Daniel acting so weird? Obviously, they'd crop Duke out.

Jiho opens his mouth to object but another person walks up to the three of them. A well-dressed man in his forties approaches and extends a hand to Daniel.

"Hello Daniel Park. I'm from the AB music agency and I think you'd be a great fit for our company. Your performance tonight was amazing, especially for someone untrained. Give us a few months and we could have you debut early next year."

Everyone's mouth drops. A&B Music?! They're one of the most famous groups that all idols want to be in and be directly invited... Jiho glares at Daniel. Why is he so lucky with everything?

Daniel composes himself enough to answer. "Well, the real talent was Duke" He motions towards the gremlin. "He wrote the lyrics and produced the track. "

The man looks down at Duke and his upper lip raises in thinly veiled disgust. "His rap was impressive, but he's not the type of talent were currently looking for."

"If Duke isn't invited, I won't be accepting any offer." Is Daniel an idiot? Passing such an opportunity, for Duke?! Jiho can barely stand to look at him. But Daniel has put the scout in a tricky position "Well, I suppose I can run it by my co-workers. Here is my business card. Contact me if you change your mind."

Jiho waits for the man to leave before looking at Daniel. "Are you crazy?! Why did you turn him down?"

Daniel looks serious, almost scary. "Because, Duke ten times more talented than me. I don't deserve it. Sorry guys but I gotta head out now." He waves while walking away "It was fun Duke! Let's do something similar again".

Jiho can't believe this, he's flabbergasted. He looks to Duke, who is beamed with joy. Jiho reminds himself that he shouldn't ruin Duke's moment just because of Daniel's stupidity.

"Good job Duke, you were great."

Duke scratches his nose " You really think so?"

"Yeah, man. Catch you later."

"See ya!"

Idiots.


End file.
